A fiendish idea to disappoint young sweet-seekers on Halloween has gone viral.

People are being encouraged to dip Brussels sprouts in chocolate for those little ghosts, witches and any other spooky visitors who turn up on the doorstep.

Mark Sparrow, a journalist and photographer, wrote on Twitter: "It'll soon be Halloween so time to prepare some yummy treats for the neighbourhood kids. Try dipping Brussels sprouts in chocolate for them."

The post has been retweeted 11,000 times.

While some saw the funny side, others have raised concerns about the risk to those who are allergic to sprouts but who do not know they are about to bite into one.

Mark responded to the concerns, tweeting: "To people who say: 'but what if someone has a Brussels sprout allergy?' If you have food allergies then begging candy is a bad move."

Read More

The idea of tricking children into thinking they have been awarded chocolate in what has been a long-standing tradition to go trick or treating at Halloween but instead bite into the unpopular sprout has been heavily criticised.

@pastor_bd added: "This is just evil and wrong."

And @RedRobotCake said: "Parents would probably cut it open, checking for safety and have a great laugh."